We had approx 30 miles to travel today and then two nights in Castlenaudray as this was the place we were to see the tour for the second time. We headed out on the canal and then after 5k took a detour to an Intermarche’ for the days rations.
The Canal du Midi was the brainchild of one Pierre Paul Riquet and today we would be passing a monument in his honour. Not unusual as nearly every town on the canal has a Riquet street, building or square.
We would also pass the watershed where, theoretically we were no longer climbing from the Atlantic but were descending to the Med!
Another hot day we spent some time at the monument and had a break with an ice cream. The monument is in a parkland area and it was very pleasent whiling away 45 mins there. We arrived at Maison Du Cassoulet early to a sign on the door to say that it would be open at two but that they could be contacted across the street. Carol was duly despatched and came back with a porter who let us in and helped us store the Velos. We were soon sorted out and walking in the town. The tour was coming through the town in fact right by the hotel and preparations were well under way. It wasn’t hard to see the tour route as there were barriers and signs all over the town. We wandered around the town and settled ourselves in a small pizza parlour for our dinner and discussed our options for the next day.
We decided to have a look around the weekly market which was to take place the next day and then bike to a nearby village called Revel which was the tour finish and have a look around there.
After a good nights sleep and breakfast we headed out the door and almost straight into the market. The town was buzzing and stalls were busy selling everything from fresh produce to craft goods to mobile phone bling. We bought our supplies for the day and headed back to the hotel.
We were enjoying a pannier free ride until we hit the main road to Revel which was extremely busy. Luckily we spotted a cycle track and this took us right into the village. Near Revel the tour was tackling a cat 3 climb so I decided that I had to try it too. Carol headed for the town square and I continued on the cycle path climbing for the next 2K. I came to a junc at the top of the path and headed for a group of mobile homes I could see ahead. It appeared that I had found the top of the cat 3 climb and from what I had tackled on the cycle path I believed it so I headed down th the bottom, spun around and climbed back up the hurtled down again and headed for the square.
Revel had really pulled out the stops and the square was looking great.
C
I met Carol in the town sq and after food and drink we headed back for Castlenaudray. Once more we stuck to the cycle track but some road riding was unavoidable.
The market had all but gone by the time we returned so we went back to the hotel, got cleaned up and headed out for dinner. This time we headed down to the canal and had a sharing platter of Tapas on the La Cybele. It was very pleasent sitting as the temp cooled watching ducks and otters swimming by in the canal basin. We finished off our evening with a walk through the village and our biggest surprise of the trip so far!
Combined stats Distance 66.6
Time 7h 22m
Climb 2813 feet
Retired and living it! 